To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 879: Chapter 372: Uncle-Nephew Night Talk_3

Having a year and a half for the recruitment of new soldiers within the country, we should be able to recover a good deal of strength.

By then, when facing Chu State, we won’t be completely powerless to fight back.

As for whether this recovered strength can withstand the Chu army,

and whether Ning Country can maintain its dynasty under the onslaught of Chu, without being annihilated,

these are not things that Bai Yian should worry about.

...

By that time, he would have long been dead, his bones perhaps decayed and reduced to mere skeletons.

He had done everything that he could do; the future of Ning Country, the future of the Coastal Aristocratic Family, would have to rely on the efforts of those who came after him.

Bai Yian was not a god; he could not foresee everything, nor could he do everything.

Having done so much was already his limit.

He could not ask for more.

“But… but…”

After listening to Bai Yian’s thoughts, Bai Jingluo opened his mouth, but in the end, he closed his eyes in pain.

He knew that his second uncle had made up his mind to die for his country, and that no matter what, he couldn’t persuade him otherwise.

And as a descendant of the Bai Family, Bai Jingluo had always taken pride in the title of Wuan Marquis from a young age. Therefore, he could especially understand Bai Yian’s desire to maintain the honor of the Wuan Marquis and uphold his own dignity.

It was because their thoughts and principles aligned that he found himself unable to utter words of dissuasion.

Because asking a person of belief and honor to give up their lifelong convictions is harder than killing them.

However, Bai Yian, seeing his nephew whom he treated like his own child in such a state, stepped forward, a smile appearing on his face. He patted Bai Jingluo’s shoulder and comforted him, “This war requires someone to take responsibility.

Ning Country is in peril; someone needs to come forward and willingly face death.

Your second uncle has no way back now.

Ning Country has been gracious to me; I, Bai Yian, could become Inborn only with His Majesty’s nurturing, which allowed me to get to where I am today.

The grace of knowing and meeting him cannot go unrequited.

My grandfather, your great-grandfather, the previous Wuan Marquis Bai Mengyang, benefited from the Yue’s rewards and deeply owed a debt of gratitude to the Xiao Family.

Therefore, my grandfather devoted his life to Da Yue, fighting in the south and north, quelling domestic troubles, and repelling foreign enemies. Until his death, he remained a faithful servant of Yue, never betraying his rulers.

Today, I sacrifice myself for righteousness and loyalty to the country, to repay the Dragon’s Grace bestowed by His Majesty. In doing so, I am emulating my ancestor, with a clear conscience.”

Having said that, Bai Yian paused, then looked at Bai Jingluo with a softer tone, but a weightier message, “I received grace from the Shen Clan, which allowed me to become Inborn; hence, I have no choice but to repay it with my life.

But you, Jingluo, are different.

Your current status is entirely due to the efforts of our Bai Family; it is the family who has promoted you to this position, it has nothing to do with Ning Country.

You don’t have to follow my example and die for the Shen Clan, who have not really shown you any favor.

After my death, the obligations between the Bai Family and the Shen Clan will end. Although both are part of the six noble families and seven aristocratic families, with deep connections, there will no longer be any debt owed.

From now on, you and our Bai Family need not cling to Ning Country, nor to the Shen Clan.

You may instead start from your own interests, from the interests of the Bai Family, from the interests of the six families and seven clans, to choose your future path, to choose whom you wish to serve loyally.

Though I wish to stop this disaster, the situation in Ning Country has already come to this point.

Whether it can safely get through this, whether it can preserve the Altars of Soil and Grain, no one can say.

If the day comes when things go awry, when the land is shattered and the nation is in peril, you will have to take responsibility. You must lead the Bai Family and the six families and seven clans, through the crisis together to preserve the Ancestral Temple incense.

At that time, free from past obligations, you will have to stand up for these responsibilities and take control of the overall situation.

Remember, staying alive is the most important.

As long as you can preserve the family, even bearing humiliation and burdens is an option.

Our enmity with Chu is a national affair, not a personal one.

To die on the battlefield, for a struggle for supremacy, one can only blame one’s shortcomings and cannot resent anyone else.

If that day comes when you must face west and serve them, you must not harbor resentment. You must not forget the greater good for minor personal feelings, ruining the future of the entire clan for selfish reasons.

You will need to be like me, like our ancestor, faithful to the end, acknowledging the great loyalty to our sovereign, repaying the nation’s grace.”

“Do you understand?”

Each word from Bai Yian was like a knife, piercing harshly into Bai Jingluo’s heart.

In the end, it was like a thunderclap, shaking him to the point of near delirium.

Hearing his uncle’s words and feeling the other’s fervent hope, along with the great responsibility entrusted to the Bai Family, Bai Jingluo was unable to say a word of refusal; he simply responded in a daze, “I… I understand.”

Bai Yian, upon hearing this, showed a trace of relief, but quickly restrained his smile, his expression becoming serious again, “Since you’re clear, then you may leave. Remember, later go and assemble your subordinates, to scout in the direction of Wuning, to spy on the enemy for the army.

This is a military order.”

Bai Yian emphasized once more at the end.

Wuning is located just south of Yongxing, also at Ning Country’s border, one of the few potential escape routes mentioned by Bai Jingluo earlier.

Now that Bai Yian had decided to keep the army’s route unchanged, continuing towards Ruichang, yet still instructing Bai Jingluo to scout in that direction, the intent was self-evident.

Bai Jingluo understood this well, but after the heartfelt conversation with his uncle, he was clear about his great duty.

Therefore, he did not indulge in any childish tantrums, saying he “wouldn’t go” or the like.

Instead, he nodded heavily, then knelt down, kowtowed three times to Bai Yian, before standing up to receive the command token, and responded, “I obey the order.”

Having said this, he turned and left.

And scenes similar to this were currently unfolding inside the Ning Army Camp, in various core areas’ tents.

At the same time Bai Yian summoned Bai Jingluo, many high-level officials in Ning Country, deeply indebted to the Shen Clan, were also calling on their own kin, giving them advice.

The Ning scouts led by Bai Jingluo were all elites, highly skilled in the martial arts.

And how could those skilled in the martial arts, not come from noble origins?

When his scouting team was initially formed, it was done so after careful thought, handpicking the best.

The purpose was exactly for a time like this when driven to desperation, they could have an additional route to ensure some of their lineage could be preserved.

This was but an execution of their planned strategy.

After sending off Bai Jingluo, Bai Yian was silent in the tent for a long time, then he didn’t stay any longer but went out and walked directly towards the most central and magnificent tent.

“Your Majesty.”

After being announced, Bai Yian saw Shen Qiu.

“Have you arranged the escape route?”

Shen Qiu seemed to have known already that Bai Yian would come, as he asked lightly as the man entered.

“It has been arranged. Jingluo and some other young men from the Coastal Aristocratic Families will withdraw in the direction of Wuning to the south.”

Bai Yian calmly answered, then saluted Shen Qiu, saying, “Tomorrow I shall lead the army towards Ruichang, to fight to the death against the Chu forces. Your Majesty, bearing the heavy responsibility of Ning Country, must not stay here and face danger.

I have already arranged for skilled warriors from the army, please, Your Majesty, take advantage of the fact that Chu’s encirclement is not yet complete tonight, and travel through the Fushui river route towards the Yangtze River estuary.

At the confluence of the two rivers, the naval forces have already prepared ships for a rendezvous, sufficient to carry several hundred people away, to ensure Your Majesty’s safe withdrawal.”

A river named Fushui runs within Yongxing territory, which, heading north, leads directly into the Yangtze River.

At the confluence of the two rivers, there is a small ferry where people can board a boat and leave.

However, this ferry is much too small, capable of transporting at most about a hundred people at a time.

For safety reasons, Shen Qiu could only take two to three hundred people with him; it was impossible to take the entire army. Otherwise, it would have been an excellent escape route.

“I understand. I shall depart immediately.”

Shen Qiu nodded, not displaying a child’s disposition, and was ready to rise immediately, accompanied by the guards already assembled outside his tent, preparing to leave.

But upon reaching the tent’s entrance, he hesitated, turning his head back to look at his loyal subject, sighed and said, “Wuan Marquis, take care!”

After saying this, as if feeling the words were meaningless, he shook his head with a bitter smile and departed.

In the pitch-black midnight, the moonlight shimmered like water.

In the Ning Army Camp, while all soldiers lay in deep slumber, two teams, one south and one north, each of roughly a hundred men, silently passed through the already-opened camp gate without alerting anyone and quietly left the camp.

Bai Yian stood on the watchtower, with his trusted officers assigned to the night watch, silently observing this scene, his gaze unfazed.